Childcare is a Community Affair

Childcare is a Community Affair

Childcare at Be Luminous Yoga is a community affair.

“It’s a really amazing community builder, the way the moms are engaged with each other, the way the parents get involved in each other’s lives and get to know each other’s kids,” said Ruthanna Bryan, the studio director. “It just automatically creates relationships, changes the whole environment of the space to have a lot of children in it, which can be really fun and exciting and adds a whole component of energy.”

Be Luminous has been around for about seven years, and Bryan said they’ve had childcare for as long as she’s been there. Two studio spaces make up the facility. They will use one for childcare when it is available, meaning they had to find times when both spaces aren’t being used for class.

Choosing Childcare Times

One of the best times has been in the morning. Bryan said they offer childcare during the 9:45 a.m. class that was smaller and could use a boost in attendance. “It was a two-birds-one-stone situation of how can we help add classes and attract a different group of people who would be able and would be interested in practicing in the mid-morning,” said Bryan.

Childcare is limited to six kids at a time to ensure quality of care. Thus, parents must preregister their children and pay a $5 fee. Bryan said they didn’t want the cost of childcare to be a barrier to parents using it, but they did decide on a nominal fee to keep members accountable and support the studio.

Volunteers serve in childcare, trading hours spent there for yoga classes. Bryan explained most are mothers of children who have connections already within the community. But what matters is understanding parents and children all work differently from one another. Bryan said it’s key to respond to questions and be upfront in communication with the community. She will meet quarterly with the childcare volunteers to ask how they can better support the community in its needs.

Why are Rules Key?

Be Luminous also has its childcare rules and regulations up on the website. This starts the conversation on the right foot, creating clear expectations. “It’s mostly just being upfront about communication so that people are clear on what they’re signing up for and then they’re clear when we have to have further conversations with them about any of those practices,” said Bryan.

Finally, Bryan said finding success in your childcare offering starts with making it easy. “As much as we do have all those regulations and boundaries set up online, make it easy for people,” she said. “Make it so people can still show up and sign up, as long as you’re not full. Make the price point low, make it simple for people to become volunteers relatively with some background checking. But making it easy for people is going to help the effort of it not getting too complicated organizationally.”